It Takes 3 Eyes to Read
The Worst Crime Imaginable He couldn't believe it. As Adams moped in his cell, a feeling of guild and sadness washed over him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mumbled to himself, over and over again. It had been so long since he had last eaten, and the bread had smelled so good, and he didn't have any money... so many different things culminating into a bad decision. He thought his wings would be strong enough to fly him to safety, but it turns out the guards in Wano were crazy fast. They were on him almost as soon as the bread was in his hands. And now he was here. His mother was right about him. Weirdest part was that they didn't even confiscate the bread. Crying with crumbs on his face and clothes was a weird look on any man. Adams wasn't the only person in the lower dungeons located deep in the basements of the castles of Mount Fuji, which had now been the site for the castles of the imperial family. However, he was the only individual currently held for minor crimes like stealing bread. The individuals beside him were some of the most wanted fugitives in Wano; murderers, war criminals, any marine. So, whatever exactly was he doing here? Why was someone who stole bread sitting in the dungeons alongside such evil men? Footsteps were heard echoing down the dimly lit corridor of the dungeon. The keychains of the guards rattled against one another, clinging and clanging, before stopping directly in front of Adams' jail cell. "The Empress has called for your release, thief," the guard muttered, his deep voice bellowing throughout the corridor like thunder. He put his keys into the prison cell and twisted the lock, releasing Adams from his prison. "Follow me. You have been called to meet with her directly. Consider yourself fortunate, thief." Adams continued to cry as he followed the guard out of the jail cell. "Thank sniffle you sniffle," he whined. The other prisoners sighed in relief as their annoying cell mate and neighbor finally left the premises. Adams' tears finally began to dry as he followed the guard out of the palace. That's when he realized, he had no idea what the empress was like. Was she a kind and benevolent leader? Or perhaps she was a cruel dictator that simply wanted to behead him herself? He kept his thoughts to himself from that point. He didn't want to get smacked by the aggressive-looking guard. People had hit him for less than just asking questions. It wasn't much longer before he was led into the throne room. His eyes darting around initially to get the lay of the land. He was about to ask where the empress was when he saw a pair of feet... a giant pair of feet... connected to a giant pair of legs. His eyes followed the legs, up to the hips, chest, and finally head. Two thoughts immediately went through his head. She's so beautiful, was the first. "That's a big lady!" was the one he vocalized. The guard grunted, and stepped forward. "You will-" Koyuki put up her hand, interrupting him. "That's enough. Thank you for escorting Mr. Adams here to me. However, you are relieved of your duties. I want to speak with him....alone." Of course everyone in the room thought this was a bad idea. Why would the Empress concern herself with a mere thief? A beggar who couldn't even afford to feed themselves! However, no one vocalized opposition. What she commanded was absolute in the walls of her palace, and in the lands of Wano. This was an empire of her creation, and because of that, she held the most respect out of anyone in the entire kingdom. Therefore, all of her guards swiftly exited the room, leaving Adams and Legs alone. "Welcome, Mr. Adams. I want to apologize for your temporary arrest. I do hope that you weren't there for too long," Koyuki begun. "Oh yeah," said Adams, quickly wiping his hands under his eyes, drying any leftover tears, "it wasn't that bad. I was only detained for..." He started counting on his fingers. A deafening silence entered the room. "Um... a little while. Yeah, a little while. Wasn't too bad." Please be a benevolent queen. Please be a benevolent queen. "Well, I assure you, Mr. Adams," Koyuki begun, leaning forward slightly from her seat. "There is nothing more than I want than your safety and comfort. Please, allow me to make it up to you," she continued. "My men tell me that you are hungry? Tell me, are you new to our beautiful country?" "I'm pretty new to Wano, Adams answered, "and the New World in general. Wano was on my list of places to go, but I may have trashed my boat on my way here and lost all my money." He laughed as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "To be fair though, there wasn't that much of it to begin with." It wasn't often that individuals coming from Paradise desired to visit foreign lands controlled by Yonko; the World Government had sought to do nothing but discredit the Yonko's efforts to create functioning empires. "I understand your situation perfectly, Mr. Adams. Therefore, I'll do everything in my power to ensure that you feel welcomed to Wano. I understand that the seas around my beloved country can be....turbulent. Even we haven't fully learned to navigate our violent borders completely. Although, we have created many ports for safe entry, our weather is volatile and spontaneous." Koyuki smiled. "Thus, I'm willing to compensate you for the damages. How does 200,000,000 sound?" "Well damn!" Adams exclaimed, "it sounds like a lot. Thank you so much!" His wide grin then began to fade as he came to a sudden realization. "Sorry ma'am, I just realized that I don't know your name." "Ah," Koyuki begun. "Apologies. I go by many names. Titanboa, War Goddess, Black Widow, Daddy L. Legs, Fukuoka Koyuki. However, in Wano, I go by Empress, or my Majesty. However, to members of my crew, and to my direct subordinates, I go by Captain. If I may, I would prefer you address me as such as well, Mr. Adams." "Well, wouldn't I have to be in your crew to..." his eyes lit up as he came to a sudden realization, "oh I get it. Thank you captain! I’d be honored to join your crew." He gave the empress a low bow. A loud rumbling reverberated throughout the room, its source rather obvious. "Now, I don't mean to sound rude, but..." Koyuki shook her head side to side. "No, I understand, Mr. Adams. I understand completely. Please, do everything you can to ensure that you are given a proper meal. For the time being, I'll have a room in my palace arranged for you to sleep until you are properly inducted into our system, and placed on our payroll. Member of my crew receive a biweekly allowance thanks to our operations." She smiled. "You have a very important role to play in my crew, Mr. Adams. I can't wait to see your potential realized." "What would that be?" Adams asked, "My potential?" He scratched his head in confusion. He'd never shown an aptitude for anything. Koyuki blinked. "You mean, you don't know?" Beside her was a massive folder filled with various documents and letters that had been personally transcribed onto paper befitting Koyuki's size. She opened the folder and pulled a paper that bore Adams' mugshot, and the information that was collected from him during his arrest. "It says here that you're a member of the Three Eyed Tribe, Mr. Adams. This is correct, yeah?" "Crap!" Adams shouted in realization, "I’m supposed to keep that secret! Please don’t tell anyone!" He begged, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands. Koyuki paused before bursting into laughter. "Kumomomomomomo! Please, Mr. Adams, stand up," she continued, "There's no need to get so worried about something like this. Of course, I'll keep it a secret. But, it really isn't something to be ashamed of. Right now, because of who you belong to, you couldn't be any more valuable to me...and, I think you know why." Adams cocked his head to the side. He was obviously confused. "Sorry, but I’m still not following." Koyuki sighed. "I guess this makes sense considering the state of affairs, nowadays. So then, allow me to explain, Mr. Adams. You see, members of the Three Eyed Tribe are rumored to have inherent, special abilities. It's why your tribe lacks numbers, and are scarce. Your mere existence is a threat to the World Government's system of order and justice. I'm sure that you are aware of this, yes?" "Oh... I guess that explains it." Adams stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "What kind of special abilities?" "I would say that it's less of an ability, and more of a feature." Koyuki tilted her head slightly. "However, it seems apparent to me that you haven't even learned to use it. Or, that you're even aware of its existence....Anyway, members of the Three Eyed Tribe have the instinctual ability to decipher the ancient, mysterious language of the Poneglyphs that dictate the truths of our world. As a member of this tribe, your third eyes give you that power by nature of how it works, you see," she explained, tapping her forehead. "However, it's a power that needs to be awakened. The issue is that, we don't actually know how to awaken it due to the scarcity of your tribe." "Decipher? You mean read?" asked Adams. "Oh, well that explains the problem. I can't read." He grinned at his new captain, as if he had solved the entire problem. Perhaps because he had. "...………" Koyuki coughed. "'Xcuse me?" "Yeah, my mom never taught me how to read. I don't blame her too much, dad died around the time I was learning age." Adams face looked irritated, perhaps even angry, for the first time he had arrived at Wano after his recollection. Koyuki didn't really have many words for Adams' statement. In fact, she couldn't have been anymore surprised by literally anything. If he had said that he was one of the few in the world who distinctly lacked this ability, she would have believed that over this. Well, it wasn't that she didn't believe him. She believed he was telling the truth, judging from his frustrated expression, but the fact that he hadn't learned to read was..... "Well, I guess outside of Wano, people generally aren't that educated.....But, no worries!" Koyuki clapped, "We'll have the best tutors and instructors teach you how to read. Is that fine, Mr. Adams?" "Yeah, that's fine, I guess." He suddenly seemed incredibly disgruntled. "You sure they'll be able to put up with me?" "Of course they will," Koyuki replied, "They'll be the best of the best. However, you seem bothered. Speak your mind, Mr. Adams. You're a guest, and now a member of the Black Widows. You have nothing to fear from me." Adams sighed. Well, she said it was okay. He opened his mouth and the words began to flow. "My mom's a bitch! I mean, I'm sorry you couldn't teach me how to read, write, or do math, so why didn't you get me a tutor? It's not like we were on the run or anything! And it's not my fault you were a shitty teacher! I wanted to learn how to read, you just didn't want to teach me!" "....." Koyuki stood corrected. Now, she really did have no words for the situation. She looked down at Adams, her eyes barren of any color except white, indicative of her dumfounded nature. "U-Um, yes. Let it all out, Mr. Adams. No need to hold anything back." He continued to rant on and on. Sometimes he cried, sometimes he shrieked, but for most of it he just seemed miffed. Finally, after what seemed to be no less than 20 minutes, he finally took a breath. "Alright, I feel better now." He smiled back up to Koyuki with a massive grin, all signs of aggression having been entirely wiped from his person. Koyuki returned his smile. "Yes, that's good Mr. Adams. But, now, unfortunately, I have a great deal of business that I must attend to. If you wouldn't mind, I'll have my attendants escort you to your room that you'll be staying in for the time being; perhaps forever," Koyuki responded, muttering the last bit under her breath. "But, please Mr. Adams. Feel free to come back and visit me whenever you feel the need to talk, about anything. As a member of my Yokai, you will serve directly under me; I need to make sure that everyone in my service, especially those who have joined the Black Widow Family, are mentally capable and healthy." "Thank you captain!" A few guards entered the chamber soon afterwards, escorting him out as she had said they would. "She's so nice," Adams said, and he would proceed to sing the Yonko's praises the entire way back to his room. Category:Role-Plays Category:Finished Role-Plays